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hello from ilha formosa

I am brand new to this board, though I've been looking at it for a little while. I'm a Canadian currently living in Taiwan, and would like to post here (very) occasionally about issues related to Taiwan, particularly environmental issues. The political ones will no doubt pop up too...

I guess I really meant it when I said I'd post here "very" occasionally. Ilha Formosa is literally "island beautiful" in Portuguese, the speakers of which, along with the Dutch, Spanish, Japanese, Qing Dynasty, pirates, and indigenous groups, during the colonial era (ca. 16th-19th centuries) vied for control of various parts of what is now generally known as Taiwan.

N.B. Taiwan is not to be confused with Thailand!

N.B.B. Taiwan's official name is "Republic of China" (ROC) NOT to be confused with the People's Republic of China (PRC)

But it seems the majority of people on this board would not make those all-too-common errors.

I'm the kind of geography and culture trivia nut that knows where 'ilha formosa' means.

If you were ro have your handle shortened to one word, would you rather it be formosa?

Continuing on the theme of Taiwan's cutural history... years ago I had a friend from Taiwan who was proud to say that she is from the people who were there before the mainlanders came in 1949. But I never asked the background of those folks. Aside from the constant trickle there would have been from the mainland, is there an older dominant 'ethnic stream' from somehwere in particular?

Maybe aboriginal peoples... but not necessarily that, since they may be long gone.

I read once in a history of the Indonesian language that all Austronesian languages are thought to have originated in Taiwan before spreading far and wide to the south. I don't know if this features anywhere in nationalist mythology on any side, though, it may be more just of a speculation by the person writing the book ..

The history of Taiwan I have read told me that the Portuguese sailors named many islands Formosa. Its like being called Duck Lake, descriptive but not very unique.

The Taiwanese community is strong and vibrant in Burnaby and many of them are active in politics. They don't seem to use the old Portuguese name ever. The Taiwanese Canadian Cultural Society is good example of how they self identify.

One reason Taiwanese would not use the name is that I beleive it was the name used by the Japanese during the colonial occupation that pre-dated the full scale imperialist attack on China beginning in the 1930s.

If you were ro have your handle shortened to one word, would you rather it be formosa? Continuing on the theme of Taiwan's cutural history... years ago I had a friend from Taiwan who was proud to say that she is from the people who were there before the mainlanders came in 1949. But I never asked the background of those folks. Aside from the constant trickle there would have been from the mainland, is there an older dominant 'ethnic stream' from somehwere in particular?Maybe aboriginal peoples... but not necessarily that, since they may be long gone.

Hello KenS,

Thanks for asking, I think Ilha is fine for a short handle, as it means Island. Although I agree no one is an island, so there's a twist of what, irony?, in ilha as a handle. Formosa is used in a lot of other contexts, including as one of the proposed names for an independent Taiwan, which isn't going to happen soon without triggering off a war, with a lot more possible contrails off the coast of N. America, which would be crappy.

About 2% of the population here is aboriginal ie, either melanesian, micronesian, polynesian, I'd have to look up which exactly...in any case, of the same ethnicity of the people in Oceania, stretching to Hawai'i, Easter Island. Madagascar and down to the Maori in New Zealand, if I recall correctly. There is some evidence suggesting the peoples of Oceania originated in Taiwan. About 14 aboriginal groups are officially recognized by the government here. A lot of people have aboriginal blood in them, though.

The earliest visitors from mainland China were probably pirates, but there wasn't much settlement from the mainland until the Ching Dynasty (the last one). Unsurprisingly, the biggest pre-'49 Chinese group comes from Fujian province across the strait, and the Hakka are also well-represented.

Now to be pedantic: without looking it up, who knows what "ilha formosa" means?

By the way, how do Taiwanese generally react to this name for their island?

Thanks, jrose!

Lachine, if by "this name" you mean "Formosa," I think the pro-independence people here would love it as a name for an independent Taiwan (on what that would take, see post above). But there is significant anti-independence (which doesn't necessarily mean pro-unification) support also.